


Unrelenting Sands

by LeesaCrakon



Series: Jedtavius [1]
Category: Night at the Museum (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Crying, Don't copy to another site, I Blame Tumblr, M/M, Men Crying, Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian, Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian Spoilers, Self-Hatred, do not copy to another site, suffocation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-20 21:42:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20682374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeesaCrakon/pseuds/LeesaCrakon
Summary: Octavius doesn't get to Jedediah in time.





	Unrelenting Sands

The sand was up to his neck now. Jedediah was beginning to worry that he'd overestimated Octavius. They were small after all, no matter how much he hated to admit it. Octavius could've gotten lost, or captured like him, or just moved too slowly on those tiny legs. The only regret going through Jedediah's mind was the fact that he hadn't befriended the Roman General sooner. They'd wasted decades just fighting with each other when they had so much in common. Thinking about how full and lively those years of friendship with Octavius could have been made the cowboy's heart ache. They could have even become more than friends if time had been on their side. Even when they were enemies, Jedediah had admired the General from afar. Now, he probably wouldn't even be able to see Octavius before he died. 

Jedediah sighed and got a mouth full of sand. He coughed and tilted his head back, trying to keep above the sand that sucked him down towards the bottom of the hourglass. He sure as hell didn't want to die like this, but it was starting to look like he had no choice in the matter. He had to clench his eyes shut as the sand piled up until it was over his head. He struggled to move, trying to get himself out of this mess, but he only succeeded in shifting the sand so it enclosed him even tighter. He couldn't move at all now. Jedediah was starting to panic. He kept his mouth clamped shut, not wanting to breathe sand in his last moments, but every instinct in his tiny body was shouting at him to breathe. He scrambled at the sand, his instincts taking over even as the sand filled his lungs and eyes as he shouted and tried to take in oxygen. It was at this moment, when Jedediah's eyes glazed over and his body was only twitching, that Octavius came rushing into the Smithsonian on the back of a squirrel, yelling a battle cry. The last haze of consciousness he had left, he briefly heard and exchanging of words before everything went black.

"Jedediah!" Octavius shouted, dismounting his squirrel and dodging past the fighting museum exhibits. His heart was beating rapidly in terror when he spotted the hourglass, all of the sand emptied into the bottom, his dear friend nowhere in sight. He pounded on the glass, shouting Jed's name, trying to see any signs of the cowboy moving around in the sand. When he saw none, the Roman general removed his helmet, swinging it as hard as he could at the glass. It began to crack and he slammed it against the hourglass again, and the glass shattered, sending sand and glass shards flying. Octavius ducked and protected his head, narrowly missing being impaled by a rather thick piece of glass. As soon as everything settle and began digging through the sand. Jedediah wasn't visible, buried under it somewhere. 

"Where are you, you idiot?" Octavius hissed under his breath, shoveling sand away with his hands. His eyes were beginning to sting and his eyes watered, but it couldn't have been tears. No. He had sand in his eyes. That was all. He continued to dig furiously until a gloved hand began to surface. Overwhelmed by both terror and relief, Octavius grabbed the hand and pulled until Jedediah was slowly dragged from the sand. His hat and one of his boots had been lost. His eyes were open and had a glazed looked to them, his skin ashy pale, almost gray. His skin was crusted with sand. Octavius brushed the sand off of his friend's face and cradled his head in his arms. He wasn't breathing. Vision still blurred and with something wet and hot rolling down his cheeks, the general tried to clear the sand out of Jedediah's throat, doing everything from pumping his chest to carefully scooping it out with a finger. Jedediah was unresponsive. 

"Come on, Jed. I know you're not dead. You can't be dead," Octavius said, shaking Jedediah by the shoulders. "Wake up. Wake up, damn it!" He shouted now, drawing the attention of several other miniatures, who stopped in fighting to stare at the two friends. Octavius started sobbing and lowered his head, clutching Jedediah to his chest. There were no signs of life. He wasn't breathing, his skin was beginning to grow cold, and he hadn't responded to Octavius at all. 

"Please. Please, you can't, I can't lose you!" Octavius sobbed, hysterical at this point, clinging to the front of his friend's leather vest that he'd always made comments about how stupid it looked. All Octavius could think about was all those long years wasted away for the sake of a rivalry. How close they could have been if only they- if only he, had seen past his own hubris. Now his friend lay dead in his arms, an event he never thought even possible. He thought they would have eternity together now, going on their adventures and watching over their people together, but eternity had been cut short by greed and vengeance. 

Octavius' hands trembled slightly as he closed Jedediah's eyes, resting his limp body back onto the tiled floor, far away from the sand. Anger unfurled in his chest as he looked down at his friend, once so wild and free, lying dead on the ground. He drew his sword, charging into the battlefield to avenge his friend. 


End file.
